8 States To Build More Charging Stations To Encourage Zero-Emission Car Sales

There’s definitely a chicken-and-egg problem with getting zero-emission electric cars on the road in that people are reluctant to invest in one if there aren’t many places to charge the things. Unless there is a sufficient number of charging stations here and there, electric car owners simply can’t drive their vehicles very far without running out of juice.

The governors of eight states--New York, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont--have collectively agreed to change that by building more charging stations and developing other infrastructure that will support zero-emission cars.

A Nissan Leaf at a charging station (Credit: AutoBlogGreen)

As part of the effort, the states will look at changing building codes and other regulations to make it less difficult to build charging stations. Reportedly, even smaller adjustments such as universal signage for charging stations and better payment systems are in play, too.

According to NBC, the states already have some 6,700 electric charging stations, and combined, the eight states comprise a solid 23% of the automotive market.

None of the above is surprising, as there have been efforts from some of these states in past to increase the number of zero-emission cars on the road, but this new initiative essentially, helps them get out of their own way. The hope is that there will be about 3.3 million zero-emission cars zipping along U.S. roads by 2025.